Aletsch (VS) · One way
Aletsch Panoramaweg
Riederfurka to the Märjelensee, along the Great Aletsch Glacier
Part of this walk is closed right now
- Bettmeralp - Riederalp: Uf de Setzu — Rockfall, 01.06.2026 – 31.05.2027
From the official closures the cantonal hiking organisations report and Schweizer Wanderwege validates, checked 2026-10-01. Only closures lasting a week or more are published, so no entry here is not a promise that everything is open.
Two lift systems bracket the day and both close for the season on 25 October 2026: the cable cars up from Mörel to Riederalp and then the Moosfluh lift at the start, the Fiescheralp cable car down to Fiesch at the end. The View Point lifts run 08:30 to 16:30.
The balcony walk above the longest glacier in the Alps. From Riederfurka the path climbs past the Moosfluh viewpoint and runs along the crest above the ice to the Märjelensee, with the glacier below you almost the whole way and the Aletschwald pines on the slope. It is stage two of the three-stage Aletsch Panoramaweg, and the stage people mean when they name the walk.
Getting there and back
The lifts and stops this walk depends on
Mörel to Riederalp, then the Moosfluh lift
Cable cars · Aletsch Bahnen
- Season
- The valley cable car runs all year; Riederalp–Moosfluh 6 June – 25 October 2026
- First up
- Valley cars from 05:52; Moosfluh from 08:30
- Last down
- Moosfluh 16:30; the valley cars run late into the evening
- Fare
- Mörel–Riederalp CHF 10.20 single; Riederalp–Moosfluh CHF 23.60 single
A Swiss Travel Pass is not free here: it gives 50% on the Aletsch lifts. A GA is free on the valley cable cars only, and 50% on the View Point lifts.
Aletsch Bahnen timetables and faresRead 20 September 2026
Fiescheralp to Fiesch
Cable car, 10 minutes, for the way home · Aletsch Bahnen
- Season
- All year, with a full closure 26 October – 1 November 2026
- First up
- 07:15
- Last down
- Continuous to 17:30, then 18:30, 19:30 and 21:35
From the Märjelensee it is about an hour on foot to Fiescheralp, through the tunnel.
Aletsch Bahnen annual timetable 2026Read 20 September 2026
At the start
- Riederfurka station, 444 m away
At the finish
- Nothing mapped within 600 m of the finish.
Stops and stations come from OpenStreetMap, measured from the ends of our line. Times and seasons come from each operator's own page, on the date shown. Check them for your date.
Making it a loop
Longer ways round, if you drove or you are running
A one-way walk means a bus or a lift home. These are circuits other people publish near this one, for a day that finishes where it started — usually at the cost of the climb the lift would have given you.
The Moosfluh circle
7 km
Route 195, the Aletschgletscher Aussichtsweg, is a circle from the Moosfluh lift station — 2 h 35 and back where it started. We have not published a line for it: ours came out 7% short of the official one, with stretches the map has no way for, which is what ground that moves does to a map.
SchweizMobil route 195Read 20 September 2026
On the way
Where you can stop
Gletscherstube Märjelen
Mountain inn, at the end of the stage · 2,360 m
- Open
- About early July to mid-October
- Food
- Restaurant; 34 beds
- Phone
- +41 27 971 47 83
A private inn, not an SAC hut, though it appears in the club's route portal.
Their own pageRead 20 September 2026
Restaurant Riederfurka
Mountain restaurant, at the start · 2,065 m
- Open
- 20 June – 17 October 2026, daily 09:00–17:00
- Food
- Lunch 11:30–14:30
- Phone
- +41 27 927 00 68
Read 20 September 2026
Bar-Buvette Moosfluh
Buvette, beside the lift station · 2,333 m
- Open
- 28 June – 26 October, 09:45–16:00; closed in bad weather
- Phone
- +41 27 928 41 41
Read 20 September 2026
How hard it is
Grade, and how long it takes
“Technically medium, with a difficult fitness rating over the full stage.” — SchweizMobil route 39
| The operator's time | 4 h | Switzerland Tourism, Aletsch Panoramaweg stage 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Swiss signpost time | 3 h 56 | The official hiking-time method, on our line |
| At a running pace | 2 h 10 | Our estimate; the grade does not change because you run |
The official stage is 11 km with 820 m of climb; our line measures 11.3 km and 666 m. The stage times also do not add up to the route total the same publisher gives for all three stages together, so treat 4 h as the figure for this stage.
Conditions
What it is like right now, and month by month
Weather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (2,029 m) and high point (2,498 m)…
Weather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (2,029 m) and high point (2,498 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather Aletsch Panoramaweg: at the lowest point (2,029 m) and the highest point (2,498 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Poor | Poor |
| High point, day / night | -4°/-11° | -5°/-11° | -3°/-9° | -1°/-6° | 3°/-2° | 8°/2° | 10°/4° | 10°/4° | 6°/2° | 4°/-1° | -1°/-6° | -3°/-9° |
| Low point, day / night | -1°/-8° | -1°/-9° | 1°/-6° | 4°/-3° | 8°/1° | 13°/5° | 15°/7° | 15°/7° | 11°/4° | 7°/1° | 3°/-4° | 0°/-7° |
| Rain, mm | 81 | 65 | 83 | 86 | 105 | 99 | 101 | 99 | 89 | 105 | 108 | 89 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Likely | Likely | Likely | Likely | – | – | Frost | Possible | Likely | Likely |
| Daylight | 8 h 58 | 10 h 18 | 11 h 49 | 13 h 31 | 14 h 57 | 15 h 47 | 15 h 29 | 14 h 15 | 12 h 38 | 11 h | 9 h 28 | 8 h 37 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
What could stop you
The slope under Moosfluh is moving
About two square kilometres of mountainside, at least 150 million cubic metres, began sliding faster as the glacier thinned; some six kilometres of paths were closed and a new trail built east of it. That is why the ground here is monitored and why the signs change from year to year.
Geopraevent: monitoring the Moosfluh slideRead 20 September 2026
The glacier is not part of the walk
The path looks down on the ice, it does not go onto it. The Aletsch Arena requires a guide for any tour on the Great Aletsch Glacier.
Aletsch Arena, hikingRead 20 September 2026
The Aletschwald is a nature reserve
Stay on the marked paths, keep dogs on a lead, no fires, no vehicles. The forest has been protected since 1933, and the whole area is UNESCO World Heritage.
Pro Natura AletschRead 20 September 2026
Season: July to September, as Switzerland Tourism gives it, and in practice while the View Point lifts run: 6 June to 25 October 2026.
Make it your day
Shorter, longer, or at a run
The loop at Moosfluh
SchweizMobil route 195, the Aletschgletscher Aussichtsweg, is a 7 km circle from the Moosfluh lift station — 2 h 35 and back where it started, which is the answer if you drove. We have not published a line for it: ours came out 7% short of the official one, with stretches the map has no way for, which is what you would expect of ground that moves.
Start or finish lower
Stage 1 climbs from Blatten bei Belalp to Riederfurka, and stage 3 drops from the Märjelensee to Bellwald. Each is a day of its own.
For runners
The Swiss Alps 100 runs this ground in August: its long courses pass Riederfurka and the Gletscherstube, and the race advertises the two suspension bridges on the full Panoramaweg. Runnable, high and exposed to the sun.
Races on this ground: Swiss Alps 100.
Keep it on your phone
Offline maps
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
- Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
- Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
- Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route and sources
What we checked, and when
This walk is an official Swiss hiking route: Aletsch Panoramaweg (Riederalp, Riederfurka - Märjelensee) (SchweizMobil route 39). We publish our own line on OpenStreetMap, matched onto the official one and checked against it.
- Official line 11.44 km · ours 11.32 km (-1.1%)
- 95% of the official line is within 5.4 m of ours; the furthest point is 27.3 m
- Climb read from a 30 m terrain model along our line, smoothed; an operator's figure will differ
- Built on 2026-09-20
- SchweizMobil route 39, the official line read 20 September 2026
- Switzerland Tourism: the stage figures read 20 September 2026
- Aletsch Arena: lifts, status and gastronomy read 20 September 2026
- Pro Natura Aletsch: the reserve read 20 September 2026
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) the paths our line follows
- Bundesamt für Strassen, Kanton, Stiftung SchweizMobilthe official route line